Feeding cigarettes

ABSTRACT

This invention provides a twisted chute for feeding downwards a stack of cigarettes and simultaneously altering their orientation. The chute has side walls each comprising two convexfaced strips arranged to engage respectively near the ends of the cigarettes; opposite strips may be adjustable towards and away from each other.

United States Patent 11 1 [111. 3,870,143 1 1 Mar. 11, 1975 Heybourn et al.

[ FEEDING CIGARETTES [75] Inventors: Frank Heybourn; Dennis Hinchcliffe, both of London,

England [73] Assignee: Molins Limited, Deftsford, London,

' England [22] Filed: Oct. 31, 1972 [2]] App]. No.: 302,401

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 1, 1972 [52] U.S. Cl. 198/280, 2l4/6.5 [51] Int. Cl. B65g 11/06 [58] Field of Search 193/43 A; 214/65 References Cited? UNITED STATES PATENTS 492,034 2/l893 Livingston 193/43 A Great Britain .1 9444 880,144 2/1908 Johnson 193/43 A 1,290,055 1/1919 Biggsm; 193/43 A 3,077,969 2/1963 Raffe 193/43 A Primary ExaminerEvon C. Blunk Assistant-ExaminerW. Scott Carson Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Craig & Antonelli [57] ABSTRACT This invention-provides a twisted chute forfeeding downwards a stack of cigarettes and simultaneously altering their orientation; The chute has side walls each comprising two convex-faced strips arranged to engage respectively near the ends of the cigarettes; opposite strips may be adjustable towards and away from each other. 4

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PYATENTEDHARI 5 3,870,143

sum 2 as 2 42 F1a.2 0 m j FEEDING CIGARETTES This invention concerns chutes for feeding downwards a stack of cigarettes, in particular filter-tipped cigarettes.

Patent application Ser. No. 234,833, filed Mar. 15, 1972 describes a reservoir for cigarettes. The cigarettes may be withdrawn from the reservoir through a downwardly extending chute which is identified by the refer ence 616 in the drawings of the above mentioned application. It may happen that it is desirable that the horizontal orientation of the cigarettes as they leave the bottom of the chute should be different from the horizontal orientation in which the cigarettes enter the top end of the chute from the reservoir. The chute may be twisted about a vertical axis so as to achieve the desired reorientation.

As the cigarettes are fed downwards through the chute, there may be a tendency for. one end of a cigarette to drop faster than the other end so that the cigarette becomes inclined to the horizontal. If the chute has side walls which are straight in horizontal crosssection, then when one of the cigarettes lying next to a side wall becomes inclined to the horizontal, the side wall in effect presents a convex surface to the cigarette. This results in point contact between the middle of the cigarette and the side wall, and consequent loss of control of the cigarette. The reaction between the wall and the middle of the cigarette may also tend to bend the cigarette and damage it. The tendency for one end to drop more quickly than the other is particularly pronounced in the case of filter-tipped cigarettes since it often happens that there are slight differences between the diameters of the filter and tobacco sections of the cigarettes.

According to the present invention, a twisted chute for feeding downwards a stack of cigarettes, or similar rod-like articles, comprising two opposed side-walls arranged to lie on opposite sides of the stack of cigarettes and to contact and guide the outer layers of cigarettes, the side walls being shaped to contact the outer layers of cigarettes only near the ends of the cigarettes.

Preferablyeach side wall comprises two strips arranged to engage respectively at or near opposite ends of the cigarettes.

Preferably at least one of the strips is adjustable towards and away from the opposite side wall.

In a preferred embodiment, each side wall comprises two strips with convex surfaces arranged to engage at or near opposite ends of the outer cigarettes, and both the strips of one of the pairs of opposite strips are adjustable towards and away from each other.

The invention will be better understood from the following description of a preferred embodiment which is shown in the accompanying drawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a chute according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the-chute showing the top of a series of horse-shoe members carrying the chute; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of part of the chute through an intermediate horse-shoe member.

As shown in the drawings, a chute 1 is twisted about a vertical axis through 90 and conveys cigarettes downwards to a conveyor 2 from a horizontal stack of cigarettes 3 carried by horizontal conveyors 3A and 3B; the conveyor 2 carries the cigarettes to a further processing station, for example a packing machine (not shown). The chute 1 comprises two end walls 4 and 5 and two side walls 6 and 7. The end wall 4 is adjacent to'one end of all the cigarettes and the end wall 5 is adjacent to the other end of the cigarettes. For example in the case of filter-tipped cigarettes the end wall 4 could be adjacent to the tipped ends and the end wall 5 adjacent to the tobacco ends of the cigarettes.

Each of the side walls 6 and 7 comprises two adjustable strips, designated 10, 11 and 12, 13 respectively in the drawings. The strips are all mounted so as to be independently adjustable at a number of positions along the length of each strip. Thus the width of the chute can be finely adjusted along its length. This fine adjustment enables the chute to be set up for a particular type of filter-tipped cigarette to accommodate the slight differences in the diameters of the filter and tobacco ends of the cigarettes, so that the cigarettes pass through the chute in an orderly stream, substantially without tilting away from the horizontal. v

The mounting of the strips is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. A series of horseshoe-shaped support members 20 support the strips 10, 11, 12, 13 and the endwall 4 at a number of positions along the lengthof the chute (i.e., at various heights), successive horse shoe members 20 being set at an angle to each other about the vertical axis of the chute to provide the desired twist in the chute. The horseshoe members are omitted from FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity. The end wall 5 is carried by arms 21 pivotally mounted at 22 on brackets 22A mounted adjacent to the top and bottom horse shoe members. A catch 23 holds each arm 21 in the closed position as shown in FIG. 2. Anti-clockwise rotation of the arms 21 carries the end wall 5 away from the chute 1 to provide access to the interior of the chute, for example if necessary to clear a blockage of cigarettes.

The outer strips '11 and 13 (i.e., those nearer the wall 5) are each mounted on a spacer 25 by means of two countersunk screws 26 (see especially FIG. 3). These spacers are in turnheld on brackets'27 by means of bolts 28, and the brackets 27 are carried by the horse shoe members 20. Each bracket 27 has a slot 29 in it through which abolt 30 passes to hold the bracket 27 in the desired position on the horse shoe member 20.

An adjusting screw 31 passes through a hole in the outside end of the bracket 27 and into a threaded hole 32 in the horseshoe member 20 to adjust the position of the strip 11 or 13 as the case may be. The bracket 27 is located on the adjusting screw 31 between a shoulder 33 on the screw and a flange 34, so that it is constrained against axial movement relative to the screw.

As can clearly be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, the positions of the strips 11 and 13 can be finely adjusted by slackening the bolts 30, turning the adjusting screws 31 to obtain the desired position of the strip (11 or 13 as the case may be) and then tightening the bolts 30 to clamp the brackets 27 and hence hold the strip in the desired position.

The inside strips 10 and 12 are held on brackets 40 in a similar manner'to that in which the strips 11 and 13 are held on the brackets 27. Like the brackets 27, the brackets 40 are held on the horse shoe 20 by bolts 30 passing through the slots 29. However the inner brackets do not have the adjusting screws 31.

As an idea of scale, for cigarettes mm long the distance between the end walls 4 and 5 may be about 87 mm and the distance across the chute between the opposite strips 10, 12 and 11, 13 may be of the order of 80 mm. the chute may be, for example, 400 mm long and supported on 6 horse shoe members 80 mm apart, with each horse shoe at an angle of 18 to its neighbours. The horse shoe members are carried by a support member 42 extending from top to bottom of the chute.

It will be seen that the strips bear on the outer layers of cigarettes near their ends, leaving the mid-regions of the cigarettes clear. Therefore, in the event of the cigarettes tilting, they continue to be guided by their ends without the risk of excessive pressure being applied to the mid-regions of the cigarettes. The surfaces of the strips in contact with the cigarettes are slightly convex (see FIG. 2) so that if a cigarette falls and becomes inclined to the horizontal it does not contact the edge of the strip. The strips may be made from a low-friction plastics material while the end walls (especially the end wall may be of a transparent plastic so that the progress of the cigarettes through the chute can be easily viewed.

We claim:

l. A twisted chute for feeding vertically downwards a stack of cigarettes, comprising two twisted parallel end walls arranged on opposite sides of a vertical rectilinear axis and equidistant therefrom and being spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the length of a cigarette, each of the said end walls extending across substantially the whole width of the said stack and arranged to restrict endwise movement of the cigarettes in the said stack, and two twisted parallel side walls which are arranged to lie on opposite sides of the said stack and to contact and guide the outer layers of cigarettes in the stack so as to progressively rotate the stack about the said axis as the stack is fed down the chute, the two side walls being substantially equally spaced from the said axis along their lengths; said side walls and end walls defining a downwardly extending channel of rectangular cross section of sufficient size to accommodate at least two cigarettes, each side wall comprising two narrow parallel strips adapted to engage respectively near the opposite ends of the cigarettes forming the outer layers of the stack.

2. A chute according to claim 1 in which the strips have convex surfaces for engaging the cigarettes.

3. A chute according to claim I which is twisted through about 90 so that each cigarette is rotated through about 90 as it passes down the chute.

4. A chute according to claim 1, including a vertically extending support member and a plurality of vertically spaced members of substantially horse-shoe shape mounted on the support member for carrying the strips, successive horse-shoe members being inclined to one another about a vertical axis for imparting the required twist to the chute.

5. A twisted chute as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one strip of the pair of strips forming one side wall is independently adjustable towards and away from the opposed strip forming part of the opposite side wall to vary the relative widths of the parts of the chute adjacent to the opposite ends of the cigarettes.

6. A chute according to claim 5, including an adjustment screw for adjusting the distance of the adjustable strip from the opposite side wall, and clamping means for clamping the adjustable strip in the desired position. 

1. A twisted chute for feeding vertically downwards a stack of cigarettes, comprising two twisted parallel end walls arranged on opposite sides of a vertical rectilinear axis and equidistant therefrom and being spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the length of a cigarette, each of the said end walls extending across substantially the whole width of the said stack and arranged to restrict endwise movement of the cigarettes in the said stack, and two twisted parallel side walls which are arranged to lie on opposite sides of the said stack and to contact and guide the outer layers of cigarettes in the stack so as to progressively rotate the stack about the said axis as the stack is fed down the chute, the two side walls being substantially equally spaced from the said axis along their lengths; said side walls and end walls defining a downwardly extending channel of rectangular cross section of sufficient size to accommodate at least two cigarettes, each side wall comprising two narrow parallel strips adapted to engage respectively near the opposite ends of the cigarettes forming the outer layers of the stack.
 1. A twisted chute for feeding vertically downwards a stack of cigarettes, comprising two twisted parallel end walls arranged on opposite sides of a vertical rectilinear axis and equidistant therefrom and being spaced from each other by a distance substantially equal to the length of a cigarette, each of the said end walls extending across substantially the whole width of the said stack and arranged to restrict endwise movement of the cigarettes in the said stack, and two twisted parallel side walls which are arranged to lie on opposite sides of the said stack and to contact and guide the outer layers of cigarettes in the stack so as to progressively rotate the stack about the said axis as the stack is fed down the chute, the two side walls being substantially equally spaced from the said axis along their lengths; said side walls and end walls defining a downwardly extending channel of rectangular cross section of sufficient size to accommodate at least two cigarettes, each side wall comprising two narrow parallel strips adapted to engage respectively near the opposite ends of the cigarettes forming the outer layers of the stack.
 2. A chute according to claim 1 in which the strips have convex surfaces for engaging the cigarettes.
 3. A chute according to claim 1 which is twisted through about 90* so that each cigarette is rotated through about 90* as it passes down the chute.
 4. A chute according to claim 1, including a vertically extending support member and a plurality of vertically spaced members of substantially horse-shoe shape mounted on the support member for carrying the strips, successive horse-shoe members being inclined to one another about a vertical axis for imparting the required twist to the chute.
 5. A twisted chute as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one strip of the pair of strips forming one side wall is independently adjustable towards and away from the opposed strip forming part of the opposite side wall to vary the relative widths of the parts of the chute adjacent to the opposite ends of the cigarettes. 